Monica Crowley Proves What Everybody (Except Imus) Already Knew

Conservative commentator and radio host Monica Crowley grew up listening to the I-Man on the radio, as far back as his WNBC days. Luckily, she was not tuned in earlier this morning, when Imus had deemed her a “loser guest.”
 
He refused to retract the comment, as he did for previous guest John LeBoutillier, on the grounds that Crowley’s interview had yet to unfold. She suggested they waste some more time on this inane topic, to which Imus replied, “That’s already good: you put the dopey host in his place,” then sought her opinion on Rep. Anthony Weiner officially resigning from Congress today.
 
“Showing the world his ballpark frank: what was he thinking about?” she said, and imagined the awkward conversation that must have ensued when Weiner called Bill Clinton to apologize. “It’s like the blind leading the blind.”
 
She insisted nobody has ever texted her a picture of their package or anything similar, but added, “If they did, I wouldn’t tell you.” Crowley had no qualms, however, about telling Imus what she thinks about tomorrow’s expected announcement from President Obama that he will reduce troop levels in Afghanistan.
 
“He is bound by his own politics, by his own party, and by his own beliefs to withdraw, at least partially,” she said, then surmised anywhere between three- and ten-thousand troops could head home. “His party wants him to withdraw a lot more, but I think General David Petraeus, who is a national hero, a national treasure, is telling him we are on the precipice of turning this around—don’t pull the rug out from under our guys.”
 
Crowley could not detail exactly how the U.S. is turning Afghanistan around, but as an interventionist, she has believed in this mission from the get-go, despite its fluidity.
 
“You had to dislodge Al-Qaeda and the Taliban,” she said, and corrected Imus by noting that killing Osama Bin Laden was only part of the original goal. “The bigger mission was to deny the enemy a safe haven from which to launch attacks against the United States and our allies. The question is, can you really accomplish that?”
 
The notion of eliminating safe havens, she pointed out, extends beyond the borders of Afghanistan. “You’re dealing with an ideological enemy which is in practically every country in the world,” Crowley said. “What are you going to do—bomb Detroit? Bomb New York City? You’ve got Al-Qaeda cells here, you’ve got Muslim Brotherhood operatives here in the United States, as well as in Yemen, Pakistan, Western Europe.”
 
The battle, she believes, needs to be fought ideologically, as well as militarily. “That’s what I think is the true solution here, and neither Bush nor President Obama have really done that.”
 
Whether a future president could accomplish such an objective remains to be seen, but Crowley would put her faith in any of the potential Republican nominees for 2012 over Obama. “I like them all,” she said, all but begging Imus to lash our at her, which he did.
 
Newt Gingrich, he observed, is a “bloated, hen-pecked loser,” and Ron Paul a “Martian.” Frustrated by Crowley’s naiveté, Imus nonetheless softened by the end of their chat, declaring his guest “delightful,” and apologizing for being “such an ass.”
 
Having been liberated from loser-dom, Crowley promptly shot back, “What else is new?”
 
-Julie Kanfer